Tuvan Women’s Hairstyles and Plait Decorative Elements: a Historical and Ethnographic Essay

Abstract

Introduction. The paper studies Tuvan women’s hairstyles and plait decorative elements, reveals their typology and features from historical and ethnographic perspectives. Being integral components of both material and spiritual cultures, such decorative elements — through materials and processing techniques, styling patterns, plots and symbols, terminology and worldview attitudes — sustainably retain valuable historical and ethnographic messages, original semantics. Goals. The work aims at exploring Tuvan traditional hairstyle types and related plait covers in historical and ethnographic aspects, thus gaining insight into most ancient beliefs and cults, customs and rites, ethnogenetic and ethnocultural ties between Central Asian peoples at large. To date, such typologies and ethnocultural parallels in the realm of traditional hairstyles and decorative elements have been either left aside or examined on a piecemeal basis only. So, insufficiency of actual data and the increasing interest towards Tuvan ethnic culture make the study relevant enough. Methods. The study employs modern interdisciplinary methods and implements an integrated approach that includes methodological principles of related scientific disciplines, such as history, archeology, and ethnography. The research at the intersection of several humanitarian disciplines helps obtain richer information on certain culture-specific features and their functioning principles within the Tuvan ethnos. Results. The paper summarizes results of ethnographic studies, analyzes field and archival materials, and classifies women’s hairstyles and plait decorative elements of Tuvans from the late 19th to the 21st centuries. Conclusions. Thus, the article attempts to compile a typology, and describes some elements of ritual practices, especially ones dealing with Tuvan women’s hairstyles.